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Center volunteers give record number of hours
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They escorted toddlers to the circus, carved pumpkins and filled cavities. They scrubbed trash cans. They wiped noses. They drove kids to soccer practice and made 90 centerpieces out of candy.
They taught mothers to quilt. They gave food to hungry people. They played “ponies” on the playground. They sorted, typed, dusted, organized, painted, called, counted, stuffed and hauled. They made reading cool. They set a good example. They listened. They smiled. They cared.
Volunteers did all of the above and much, much more last year at Operation Breakthrough. Never in the Center’s history have so many people been so generous with their time.
In 2007, volunteers gave 29,817 hours of service to Operation Breakthrough. That’s the equivalent of three solid years, plus 147 days, around the clock.
That number stuns Sisters Corita and Berta, who remember operating the jackhammer themselves when they and their staff installed a playground in 1973. There were no volunteers to help.
“Now,” says Sister Berta, “we would be hard-pressed to run this place without them.”
There would be no dental care for the children. No book clubs. No Christmas gifts. No extra pairs of hands when there are eight babies and two teachers.
“Imagine you have quadruplets; that’s what our baby classrooms are like without volunteers,” says Jenny Horsley, director of volunteer services.
In 2004, Jenny’s first year, volunteers logged 1,842 hours. In 2005, that number doubled. In 2006, the volunteer hours nearly tripled, to 11,052.
The exponential growth in volunteering, Jenny believes, is tied to the Center’s expansion. In the old facility, we could not accommodate groups of more than 20 volunteers at a time. There simply was no space for them! Now, we routinely have groups of 40 to 50.
Last year’s nearly 30,000 hours were worked by more than 300 groups and more than 600 regular, individual volunteers. They come from as far away as Vermont.
“Somehow we have become known as a good place for college kids to come on Alternative Spring Break,” Jenny says. Students from 13 colleges – Michigan State University, Vanderbilt, University of New Hampshire - worked at the Center last month.
Our volunteers range in age from octogenarians to preschoolers who sell lemonade to raise money for our babies. Some are judges, physicians, NFL athletes. Many are high-schoolers performing community service or adults who say, “I just want to give back.” The majority work directly with children, while others repair donated bicycles, shelve library books, sell raffle tickets, organize the food pantry and more.
Most are incredibly eager to help.
“I have a volunteer who, if she has even a half hour free, comes over here and rocks a baby,” Jenny says.
We have no trouble finding 200 people to spend an entire weekday taking 200 preschoolers to the circus. No matter how strange – or unpleasant – the task, someone always steps forward. Move 400 mattresses? No sweat. Continue sorting clothes even after a mouse pops out of the box? OK. Uproot poison ivy to make way for a playground? Sure!
“I am constantly amazed by the dedication of our volunteers,’’ says Sister Corita. “They work like we’re paying them! In fact, we could never, ever afford to hire people to do half the things our volunteers do.”
And after all that they do, volunteers often claim they get more than they give.
“Lots of Spring Breakers cry when they leave,” Jenny says. “They give me a death-grip hug because they had such a good time.”
Volunteers are often “blown away by the needs” they see here, says Kim Davis, director of social work. “They realize, for example, that they are giving beds to people who are sleeping on the floor. They tend to be very humbled by that…
“Poverty to a lot of people is an abstract concept. When they come here and volunteer, it gives it a name and a face.”
It’s easy for people to feel overwhelmed by the world’s problems, says Sister Berta. “You think, ‘I can’t do anything about that,’” but spend an hour at Operation Breakthrough, “and you see that you can make a difference to one child.”
Spend another hour, make a bigger difference… Spend 29,817 hours and make all the difference. |
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